Sensor-based cyber-physical systems (CPS) form the backbone of Industrie 4.0. By merging software-based components with physical objects, they enable highly flexible and modular production and industrial processes. In addition to various control devices, a CPS consists of a large number of networked sensors and measuring devices embedded in the industrial environment that generate high volumes of heterogeneous measurement, machine and production data. This data must be efficiently and quickly structured, filtered, linked and classified. By pre-processing the data locally (fog computing) directly in the sensor area, CPS will be able to meet the response time requirements of industrial applications. In addition, self-monitoring and self-configuration of sensors should be enabled even in the face of changing environmental conditions as well as dynamic changes in the CPS or sensor networking. Sensors should be able to automatically adapt their operating mode and thus also energy consumption and data transmission volume to the application demand in order to increase overall efficiency. A future basic requirement for this will be fast, efficient, flexible and reliable radio communication, with the help of which various components will be able to network flexibly, on demand, without delay and independently to form a larger overall system. Here, 5G technologies (e.g., from the IC4F project) offer a promising approach with regard to important parameters such as short latency times and increased communication security, which play a central role in the industrial context. New frequency ranges (e.g., millimeter waves) and spectrum utilization concepts in 5G will also allow new business models for the industry itself and for telecommunications providers with regard to privacy, costs, and independence of location. The development of radio systems based on 5G and their optimization require simulations, planning and precise channel models, for which certified radio frequency measurements and the metrological traceability of the measurement methods are the basis. Another basic requirement for the implementation of future CPSs are possibilities for automated authentication. Embedding a DCC in the sensor technology of a CPS provides the structured approach needed for this. With the help of an associated infrastructure for secure certificate management, a wide range of possibilities for digital identity management arise:
- Unambiguous assignment of device and DCC as well as chaining of measuring devices in (sub)networks with the DT,
- Storage of measurement capabilities, requirements for environmental conditions as well as for data analysis in the DCC, and
- Machine-interpretable information about the validity range of the calibration, changes in the environment and changes in the calibration parameters.
The concept of the DCC is to be extended by corresponding mechanisms of secure identity management and, in combination with secure and low-latency communication protocols, provide the capability for fast, reliable authentication (Plug&Trust). At the same time, this is accompanied by protocols for distributed triggering and synchronization across multiple nodes - the verifiable synchronicity thus enabled in networks creates new approaches for high-performance networked industrial measurement systems, e.g. for measuring delay times in communication/sensor networks or for distributed and real-time analysis of high-dimensional data spaces such as in condition monitoring, positioning and tracking.